Montreux to Chamonix

I've not done it, but suggest looking into taking the ferry across Lake Geneva to the French shore, and train from there.

You can't take a train from the French side of Lake Geneva to Chamonix as far as l know.
Take a train from Montreux to Martigny and then take the Mont Blanc Express train to Chamonix.
You can also rent a car - it's a great drive and will take you about an hour and a half to drive there...maybe a little less. It's about 45 minutes from Martigny. I've driven it many times and it's easy. There is a huge parking lot in Chamonix just behind the Aguille du Midi gondola station.

I meant you could take the ferry from the Swiss side of the lake to the French shore (Thonon les Bains or Evian) and then train to Chamonix. Possible? I checked SNCF and looks like you can.

You could get to the Geneva airport and take one of the airport shuttles into Chamonix. We used ChamExpress and were happy with them. I think you save $ by making a reservation in advance.

I meant you could take the ferry from the Swiss side of the lake to the French shore (Thonon les Bains or Evian) and then train to Chamonix. Possible? I checked SNCF and looks like you can.

That also goes back through Geneva. Trains are slower than cars in the region: Geneva to Chamonix take 3 hours, while a shuttle bus takes just over 1 hour. From Montreux, I recommend the Mont Blanc Express train from Martigny - very scenic, 3 hours total.

See my reply on your driving question. It's not a direct train, but I wouldn't let that be the deciding factor.

You would have a large drop off fee driving from Montreux Switzerland to Chamonix, France. The train ride isn't that long. Changing trains really shouldn't be a big deal.

Pam